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Revealed: The 11 must-have skills for every 11 year old

11 Mar 2015

Modern day concerns such as staying safe online and cooking a healthy meal sit alongside more traditional outdoor skills like camping and navigation, according to the results of new research into what skills young people must get to grips with before their 11th birthday.

Volunteers in Scouting vote for the top skills they think all young people should have by the time they reach age 11, and 11 year olds asked whether they think they have those skills

Results mark a sign of the times with staying safe online and cooking a healthy meal making the list alongside traditional scouting skills like navigation and camping

Over two-thirds of 11-year-olds know how to stay safe online but just 41% say they know how to cook a healthy meal

New ‘Farm to Fork’ partner badge launched by The Tesco Eat Happy Project in conjunction with The Scout Association to teach young people cooking skills as well as where their food comes from

Modern day concerns such as staying safe online and cooking a healthy meal sit alongside more traditional outdoor skills like camping and navigation, according to the results of new research into what skills young people must get to grips with before their 11th birthday.

The research, conducted to mark the launch of a new partnership between The Scout Association and The Tesco Eat Happy Project, involved asking local Scouting volunteers what skills they think young people should have by age 11. 250 11-year-olds were also asked which of those skills they confidently feel they have.

Despite being voted the topmost important skill bymore than 300 Scout leaders, just 39% of all 11-year olds surveyed said they knew what to do in a first aid emergency. Most young people – more than 80% in each case – were confident of their ‘life skills’ such as being part of a team and able to make new friends. Two-thirds (67%) said they know how to stay safe online but worryingly, much less than half, 41%, knew how to cook or prepare a healthy meal. Just 4% of respondents claimed to be able to do all 11.

The complete top 11:

1. Know what to do in a first aid emergency

2. Spend at least one night away camping

3. Be part of a team

4. Be able to make new friends

5. Navigate a short trip with a map and compass

6. Know how and when to call 999

7. Know how to cook safely on an open fire

8. Cook or prepare a healthy meal

9. Know how to stay safe online

10. Know how to tie three knots

11. Tread water for three minutes in a vertical position

A new partner badge has been launched by The Tesco Eat Happy Project in conjunction with The Scout Association for all Beaver Scouts and Cubs Scouts who complete a Farm to Fork Trail, on which they can learn all about how their food is grown or produced. Stops on the trail include seeing behind the scenes of a Tesco bakery, learning which animals cheese comes from, being taught how to gut a fish and fun challenges like where different fruit and vegetables are grown.

Today also marks the one-year anniversary of The Tesco Eat Happy Project, thanks to which over 660,000 children have so far found out where their food comes from as well as how to cook nutritious meals.

Bear Grylls, Chief Scout said:

“Many young people have lost touch with where their food actually comes from and it’s great that Tesco, in partnership with the Scouts, have created a Farm to Fork Trail that Beaver Scouts and Cub Scouts can go on that provides a meaningful way of reconnecting young people with what’s on their plates, and that knowledge and experience will stand them in good stead for the rest of their lives.”

Josh Hardie, Corporate Responsibility Director for Tesco said:

“Cubs and Beavers love exploring and learning new things, and the Eat Happy project is all about taking kids on a culinary adventure. We want to improve the next generation’s relationship with food and this partnership with The Scout Association will help even more children learn where the food on their plates comes from.”

Hannah Kentish, UK Scouting Youth Commissioner said:

“The survey results are full of practical skills and adventure based activities, this is exactly what Scouting is all about. Knowing how to cook a healthy meal is a great skill for young people and it’s important they know where their food comes from.”

Any Scout leaders who want to book a Farm to Fork Trail for their Group can find out more at tesco.com/eathappyproject.

Ends

For further information, please contact Miranda Pitt and Hannah Stewart at TVC Group:

The Tesco Eat Happy Project is a long-term commitment to help 4 – 11 year olds have a healthier and happier relationship with food. Tesco believes that if children understand more about food and where it comes from, they can make better decisions about what they put on their plates when they grow up.

Tesco’s ambition is to give every primary school-aged child in the UK the opportunity to go on Farm to Fork Trails, Online Field Trips and Let’s Cook courses, to support their syllabus in learning about food and nutrition. All are free and open to every 4 – 11 year old in the country.

Farm to Fork Trails offer interactive, educational fun at over 770 Tesco stores and more than 170 Supplier Partner’s farms and factories. Children learn how to bake bread rolls, taste new foods or see how cows are milked. The trails are based across the country and Tesco contribute towards transport costs.

Online Field Trips broadcast live from farms and factories across the globe. Children use technology in the classroom to stand in a muddy field and discover where the food on their plates comes from, without needing to pull on their wellies. They can chat to real growers and producers using Google+ Hangouts.

Free, downloadable resources are developed with teachers and nutrition experts to be age-appropriate and linked to the national curriculum. They include lesson plans, recipes, videos and activities, and span all subjects so that teachers can add a healthy eating theme to any lesson.

Let’s Cook courses, run in partnership with the Children’s Food Trust, aim to give children the skills and passion to cook and eat healthily. Children take away an apron and healthy recipes to help them continue cooking at home.

The Tesco Eat Happy Project launched in March 2014 and has now seen over 660,000 children find out where their food comes from, as well as how to cook nutritious meals through participation in Farm to Fork Trails, Online Field Trips and Let’s Cook courses.

To understand more about The Tesco Eat Happy Project, please visit http://www.tesco.com/eathappyproject or tweet us on @EatHappyProject

ABOUT SCOUTING:

The Scout Association was founded on 1st August 1907.

Total membership now stands at 550,457 [2013-14 membership census]

Adventure is at the core of Scouting, and the Association passionately believes in helping their members fulfil their full physical, intellectual social and spiritual potentials by working in teams, learning by doing and thinking for themselves.

Over 200 activities are offered by Scouting around the UK, made possible by the efforts of more than 100,000 volunteer leaders. This has helped make Scouting the largest co-educational youth Movement in the country.

One of the challenges that the Scout Movement faces is finding more volunteers to plug the current gap. At present there are over 40,000 young people on waiting lists.

Adults working in Scouting contribute in excess of 364 million hours of voluntary work each year to their local communities.

The number of volunteers working for Scouting is bigger than the combined workforces of the BBC (24,000) and McDonalds (67,000) put together.

Worldwide Scouting has 30 million members and operates in nearly every country in the world.

On 5th January 2012, Clarence House announced that HRH Duchess of Cambridge had become a flexible volunteer with The Scout Association.